I have not enjoyed reading anything in about a month. It’s been a perfect combination of lack of motivation and concentration.

That was until this morning, when I picked up this book and found that it was everything I was missing. The Husbands follows Laura, an early thirties singleton living in South London, who gets home from a night out to find that she has a husband. A husband that she has never met before, yet pictures of them both line walls of their shared flat. A man who has a relationship with her family and friends, whom her nephew fondly calls Uncle Michael. Obviously stunned, Laura tries to get to grips with how this could be, but before she can start to comprehend any of it, he goes into the attic to change a lightbulb and returns a different, new husband. Her attic is magic and replaces her ‘husband’ with a new man every time he enters it.

This book is HILARIOUS. It’s well written, it’s full of a wonderful cast of characters and is just bringing me so much joy. Lots of people suggested romance to ease myself back into reading but I find most romance so hit or miss. This one feels like the perfect, near-romance without having to put up with all the gushy stuff. I think this is the perfect book for diminishing any reading slump.

I think it drops off a bit around 70% mark but would still very highly recommend for anyone looking for a laugh. It was such a fun reading experience and such a fun concept too.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine a world where, whenever you're done with your current spouse, you simply tuck them away and—presto!—a fresh one arrives. Intriguing, right? That concept alone was more than enough to pull me in.
At the outset, I was completely on board. The book promised an inventive twist on domestic life with a speculative flair, and I was ready for a smart, quirky exploration of identity and relationships. The opening delivered just that—engaging, witty, and offbeat in all the right ways. I was flipping pages with enthusiasm, eager to see where it would lead.
But somewhere along the way, the narrative seemed to lose its bearings. What felt like a clever satire began to drift aimlessly. The protagonist’s repeated partner-swapping turned from curious to chaotic, and the plot started spiraling into territory that felt more bizarre than meaningful. Rather than building toward clarity or transformation, the story wandered in circles.
I kept waiting for a pivot—some emotional resonance or deeper revelation—but instead, things just escalated into absurdity. The tone shifted from sharp to scattered, and by the final chapters, it felt like the story had simply run out of things to say. There was an ending, technically, but it lacked the satisfying sense of evolution or closure I’d been hoping for.
It’s disappointing when a book with such a standout idea doesn’t quite stick the landing. The promise was there, the foundation was strong, but in the end, it felt like a creative experiment that didn’t know how to finish itself.

The Husbands is a clever, heartwarming, and surprisingly funny novel that caught me off guard in a rather surprising way. The beginning feels chaotic, but once the story settles, it unfolds into something truly special. With humor, heart, and a satisfying ending, it’s a read I genuinely recommend.

Hmmmm, I do like a fair bit of silliness, but this one wasn't for me. I can't think of anything that was nice or kind about Lauren. The book is mostly about all the husbands that keep coming from the attic, her calling in sick at work all the time when she wanted some time to herself (or simply not showing up, because she couldn't be bothered), her not liking the guys who keep turning up, her not complaining about the decoration of her house, and so it goes. She seems more connected to her houseplants than any of her friends or relatives.

There might be a hidden message about how nowadays we are struggling to keep up with our deafening and demanding society, that we can always to better or should be doing better, or even pretend to have all sorts of things to show off, with the risks of FOMO and FOBO, perhaps Lauren was being petty and particular for that exact reason.., but I didn't got that.

Instead, The Husbands is about an able-bodied woman who fakes her own sickness and hopes for a nice guy who happens to be her husband and be supportive of her suffering, but rather not too oppressive thank you very much, something like that. And who literally makes some of them ill, and cannot deal with providing care for one being seriously injured. Ableism, perhaps. Because the bottom line in real life is that most people cannot handle other people's discomfort and with that this makes Lauren a real-life character? So yeah, I'm quite confused.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

I was keen to read it this book, intrigued by the storyline as Lauren finds herself faced with husband after husband, emerging in various guises from her attic. There is humour, pathos and romance.
However, there are so many husbands it's hard to keep track of them as they seem to arrive thick and fast.
The longer it went on the more I wanted to race to the end to see how this would all resolve itself. And to find out why this was happening. The ending was slightly disappointing but I still loved the book. The idea is ingenious and raises a lot of questions. What are we looking for in a husband? And imagine if you could just exchange a dud one for another?!

I thought the premise of this book sounded great and really enjoyed the first few chapters.
Lauren comes home from a hen night to a strange man in her apartment. It turns out he's her husband, whom she has no recollection of. When he goes up to the loft, he comes back as a completely new husband.
Lauren goes through a huge number of husbands, encouraging them up to the lift when they get on her nerves.
It started off as fun and novel but I felt it got repetitive and didn't seem to be going anywhere other than another new husband.
Overall, I found it quite disappointing.

A seriously fun read! I actually absolutely loved this lighter read that kept me 100% engaged from beginning to end..
What a brilliant concept: having a magic attic that every time you send your husband up into a new one emerges! It must have been so entertaining to brain storm all the different husbands and the various back stories. I am seeing Holly Gramazio at Hay Festival in May - looking forward to hearing her discuss her writing process.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

The premise of THE HUSBANDS is such a lot of fun, and I greatly admired the writing. As such I flew through it in a day. Having now thought about it for another day, it’s not the ending that’s stuck with me but other parts of the book, so maybe the speed or the unresolved nature of the ending isn’t quite my thing.